York (explorer)

Early life

York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. He, his father, his mother (Rose) and younger sister and brother (Nancy and Juba), were enslaved by the Clark family. York was William Clark's servant from boyhood, and was left to William in his father's will. He had a wife whom he rarely saw, and likely lost contact with her after 1811 when she was sold/sent to Mississippi. It is not known if York fathered any children.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Historian Robert Betts says that the freedom York had during the Lewis and Clark expedition made resuming enslavement unbearable. After the expedition returned to the United States, every other member received money and land for their services. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good services during the expedition. According to one account discussed below, Clark eventually gave him his freedom.

It is shown that York had gained a little freedom while on the expedition with Lewis and Clark. It is mentioned in journals that York went on scouting trips and going to trade with villages so he saw what freedom was like while doing that. He might have also been shown respect by Clark because Clark named two geographic discoveries after him; York's Eight Islands and York's Dry Creek. Also they took a poll of where they should stay over one winter and York's opinion was recorded even though it was last. This shows that York had a taste of freedom and possibly gained some respect by the fellow travelers on the expedition.

Later years and ultimate fate

As to York's later life and death, semi-contemporaries Washington Irving and Zenas Leonard give contradictory accounts. When Irving interviewed Clark in 1832, Clark claimed to have freed York, but that York regretted being free because he was a failure at business, and died trying to get back to serve his master as a slave again in St. Louis. Some contemporary historians doubt the accuracy of Clark's story, for it reflects pro-slavery arguments that Africans were happy to be slaves, and could not lead successful lives as free people. However, manumission laws and practices of the era often required freed slaves to leave the area, and their family and friends.

Betts and Áhati N. N. Touré suggest that York simply refused to return to Clark, and escaped to freedom. Leonard reported meeting with an African man living among the Crows in north-central Wyoming in 1834, writing:

In this village we found a negro man, who informed us that he first came to this country with Lewis & Clark – with whom he also returned to the State of Missouri, and in a few years returned again with a Mr. Mackinney, a trader on the Missouri river, and has remained here ever since - which is about ten or twelve years. He has acquired a correct knowledge of their manner of living, and speaks their language fluently. He has rose (sic?) to be quite a considerable character, or chief, in their village; at least he assumes all the dignities of a chief, for he has four wives, with whom he lives alternately.

York had experienced freedom on his adventures with Lewis and Clark. He was part of the team and he contributed just like the rest with hunting, fishing, putting up tents etc. He had crossed rivers and mountains on the expedition and had a taste of what true freedom is like. On the expedition he felt like a free man, and then when he returned east he was a slave again, in a world where there was slavery and bondage.

According to yet another source, York continued to work for Clark as a slave after the expedition. York asked for his freedom and at first Clark refused, but did send him to Kentucky so he could be closer to his wife. Ten years after the expedition Clark granted York his freedom and York worked in the freighting business in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1832, York died from cholera.

Popular culture

Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker has written two books of poetry about York: Buffalo Dance: the Journey of York (2004), and When Winter Come: the Ascension of York (2008). Both books were published by the University of Kentucky Press.

In his novel Little Big Man, Thomas Berger mentions York as having likely been the father of some very dark skinned Indians.

The opera "York" (composer Bruce Trinkley and librettist Jason Charnesky), based on York's life, was composed for the first international conference on the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and performed at Penn State Opera Theatre.

The play "York" was created by actor and African drummer David Casteal and playwright Bryan Harnetiaux, and premiered at Spokane Civic theatre on April 29, 2005, as directed by Susan Hardie and performed by David Casteal, (with performances in New York City in July 2006). In commemoration of Black History Month, the play was again presented on February 27–28, 2016 with David Casteal returning in the lead role as York in a one-man performance.

Honors

A statue of York, by sculptor Ed Hamilton, with plaques commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition and his participation in it, stands at Louisville's Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, next to the wharf on the Ohio River. Another statue of York stands on the campus of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dedicated on May 8, 2010, it does not focus on York's face, since no images of York are known to exist. Instead, it features fragments of William Clark's maps "scarred" on the statue's back. Yorks Islands are an archipelago of islands in the Missouri River near Broadwater County, Montana, which were named for York by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The islands were originally named "York's 8 Islands," but have since become known as "Yorks Islands" or simply "York Island". The naming of "Yorks 8 Islands" is not found in the narrative journals of Lewis and Clark. Instead it is found in Clark's tabulations of "Creeks and Rivers," by the entry, "Yorks 8 Islands." The Lewis and Clark Expedition also named another geographical feature for York, "York's Dry Creek", a tributary of the Yellowstone River, in Custer County, Montana. This name was later abandoned, and the creek was renamed "Custer Creek".

In 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously granted York the rank of honorary sergeant in the United States Army.